Irish Examiner view: Not enough female leaders in Europe

Angela Merkel is departing, and Sweden's first female prime minister resigned after less than 12 hours

Magdalena Andersson of Sweden's Social Democratic Party resigned after less than 12 hours in the top job after her budget was rejected and the Green Party left her coalition. Picture: Fredrik Persson/TT News Agency via AP

It was the late British prime minister Harold Wilson who declared that “a week is a long time in politics”. 

If he were around now, he might consider reducing that to half a day, in light of the fact that Sweden's first female prime minister resigned after less than 12 hours in the top job after her budget was rejected and the Green Party left her coalition, plunging the country into political uncertainty.

Known for her bluntness and no-nonsense attitude, Magdalena Andersson, a former finance minister and a fan of heavy metal music, has a reputation for being direct, blunt, and confrontational — characteristics considered unwelcome in a country where political consensus is the norm. 

However, she has said she would like to return, so Swedes may yet get to see how a heavy metal fan nicknamed "the bulldozer" leads the country.

With the departure of Angela Merkel of Germany, there are now just four other women leading their countries in the EU: Finland's Sanna Marin; Estonia's Kaja Kallas; Lithuania's Ingrida Šimonytė, and Denmark's Mette Frederiksen.